Reading instruction is a vital component of any student’s education, even more so for individuals with autism. This is because many individuals with autism tend to have more difficulty developing reading skills especially meaning-based reading skills. Without intensive reading instruction these skills are unlikely to develop. In a paper published in the Focus of Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, by Kelly Whalon, Stephanie Al Otaiba and Monica Delano, the current research regarding reading instruction for individuals with autism is reviewed. The authors begin the review by discussing the 5 key components of reading instruction recommended by the National Reading Panel (NRP) for all students. These are phonemic awareness, phonics, oral reading fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. These five components are able to be divided into two main categories of instruction (as proposed by Gough, et al, as the Simple View of Reading) which are code-focused instruction (phonemic awareness, phonics and fluency) and meaning-based instruction (vocabulary and comprehension). The 11 reading-focused studies they identified were organized into three categories: (1) code-focused intervention , (2) meaning-focused intervention, and (3) both code and meaning focused.

They found that students with autism in all of the studies made gains in the target skills. The most important point the authors made regarding reading instruction was that students need to be provided with reading instruction which addresses all of the key elements of reading as recommended by the NRP and mandated by No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Many of the commercially available general education reading curricula address all of these components. It is vital that all students with autism have access to all components of these curricula. In many instances there will need to be modifications and/or accommodations made to the curricula to address the specific needs of students, but it’s important they are taught all the skills necessary for reading.

The authors listed some strategies which were advocated by the NRP and researchers in the field that could be beneficial to students when teaching them reading skills:

• identify sounds in words
• map sounds to corresponding letters
• blend sounds together to form words
• decoding in connected text, not just single words
• repeated practice, which may include computer assisted instruction
• reading connected text aloud
• peer-mediated activities
• teach reciprocal questioning
• use self-monitoring checklists
• use think-aloud techniques
• question generation
• use prompting strategies including visuals or scripts
• use anaphoric cueing

Reading is an extremely complex but vitally important skill to teach. Many students may find the learning of decoding skills to be easier than comprehension skills, but reading is meaningless without being able to comprehend what was read. Therefore, it is key to ensure the reading instruction provided to students is well rounded and address each of the five recommended components of reading.